Overhead garage door



y- ,1 A. c. DALFONSQ 2,324,138

- OVERHEAD GQRAGE DOOR.

FiI ed Feb. 12, 1940 IN VENTOR. ALEXANDER C DALF-o/vso BY I ATTORNEY.

Patented July 13, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,324,138

OVERHEAD GARAGE noon Alexander C. DAlfonso, Santa'Barbara, Calif.Application February 12, 1940, Serial No. 318,467

5 Claims.

The invention relates to .garage doors of the overhead swinging type.This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationsfiled under Serial No. 134,884 on April 3, 1937, and Serial No. 184,985,filed January 14, 1938, combining the species originally shown in Fig. 3of the first case with a modification of the same species shown in thesecond case, and to take the place of the latter case. The object of theinvention is to provide improvements in the arrangement of doorsuspension and springs which makes the door simpler to install andbetter inits operation. Other advantages of the invention will appear inthe following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved door mounting arrangement showingthe closed door as seen from inside of the garage.

- Fig, 2 is a vertical .central section of the door taken at rightangles to the view of Fig. 1, and

showing the same in open or overhead position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the rear guiding levers, showing amodified form thereof. Fig. 4 is a side elevation similar to that Fig. 3but showing a still further modification. Briefly described, theinvention comprises an overhead swinging door mounting, and wherein thedoor is bodily suspended on one pair of pivotedarms when closed, andpivotally carried ontwo pairs of pivoted arms or links during openingand when open, and spiral tension springs are connected to the upper,rearmost set of arms to assist in raising the door, the invention havingprincipally to do with the form of and positionlng of the members inrelation to one another whereby easier installation and better operationof such doors is achieved.

In the drawing the front wall of the garage or door frame is designatedl, the opening for the door 2, and the door itself 3 and the garagefloor l.

The door is, in opeartion, carried on two pairs of pivoted arms 5 and'Sarranged adjacent both vertical edges of the door and both pivoted atone end on horizontal axes I and 8 respectively to the door, and at theother ends on horizontal axes 9 and III to fixed points on or adiacentthe sidewalls ll of the garage. When the door is closed arms.5 (as shownin dotted lines), hang vertically in position to carry the entire weightof the doors and positively determine its clearance from the floor.

' directed ends I pivotally engaging in bearings showing of Fig. 1, butare there displaced iaterally to avoid confusion in the drawing, also tokeep the springs beyond the edge of the door. The lower set of arms 5are substantially S shaped in havingtheir endsoppositely directed asshown in Fig. 1, and with the lower inwardly The upper set of arms 6 arealso 8 shaped and the inwardly turned-ends 8 of the upper arms arepivotally carried in bearings I4 secured to the door and may also beextended to join together as dotted at H if desired. The opposite endsID of these arms are outwardly directed and pivotally carried inbearings l5 secured to the side walls ll of the garage or to a suitablepost if no side wall is near enough.

The bearings l2 are secured-to the door near its lower edge, andthebearings I about one third way down from the upper end, and the two setsof arms are preferably both of the same length,

' and positioned so that the pivotal axes of their other ends fall onthe samelevel or horizontal line it as indicated in Fig, 2, and thefixed axes so placed that when the door is swung upwardly The arms ateach edge of the door. may be in line with one another when viewed as inthe and inwardly to overhead position 3' (see Fig. 2) with the doorstriking a suitable stop such as a rubber bumper I! on the underside ofthe upper doorway lintle l8, arms 5 will be slightly inclined iwardlytoward their lower pivotal ends 9, and arms 8 will be slightly angularlyinclined in the opposite direction as shown in this figure. As the armsmay be duplicates in length, the same arm serves for all four and thussimplifies manufacture. Also they are all very short so as to cost verylittle for material compared with the very long arms used heretofore, animportant feature in a highly competitive art.

When the door is swung down to vertical closed position the arms willtake the dotted positions indicated in Fig. 2, and any desired form ofstops and latch (not shown) may be provided for locking or latching thedoor when closed.

At least one of theoutwardly turned ends 9 of arms 5 is preferablyprovided with an operating handle or lever I 9 suitably secured throughits hubto end [of arm 5 as by a pin 20. By

pulling this handle from upper position shown in Fig. 1 to the lowerposition shown in Fig. 2

the door will be opened and vice versa. Arms 8 are preferably providedwith rearwardly and upwardly extending brackets 2| (as viewed in Fig. 2)firmly secured to the arms as at 22 or by welding thereto and to therear ends of'which brackets powerful helically coiled tension springs 22are connected as by several chain links 24, while at the opposite endthe springs each connect as at 28 with a suitable anchoring bolt ordevice secured to the side wall or top of the garage and which anchoringdevice may take the form of an angle plate 2 with several holes 21 in itand into any of which the end hook 25 of the spring may be engaged toadjust the tension of the springs at the time of or after theinstallation is made if desired. The tension of the springs may also beadjusted by changing the number of links 24 of the short chain at thelower end 01' the springs or in any other desired manner.

Instead of arms 8 being straight and pro-' vided with rearwardly andupwardly extending brackets 2| as shown in Fig. 2, they may, as shown inFig. 3 at 6', be angularly bent to form an elbow as at 28 and the lowerends of the spring 23 connected to a clamp collar 2! adjustable alongthe bent arm toward or from the elbow to vary the tension, and by whichconstruction the spring connecting point to the arm may assume the sameofls'et relation to a straight line 30, ex-

tended between the upper and lower pivotal axes of the arms, as it wouldin the showing of Fig. 2.

The helical springs 23 are, when the door is overhead, extendedpreferably at an angle of about 45 degrees from a vertical line droppedfrom the upper anchor pin, and are of a length to be then almost relaxedor under slight tension only, and whereby, due to the angular positionof the arms and points of pivoting and connection of thesprings, whenthe door'is swung forward (to the left) from its overhead position shownin Fig, 2, the lower end of the springs swing upwardly along an arc 3|struck from the pivotal lower ends III of arms 5 so that very littletension is put upon the springs until the door begins to descend, andwhereupon the tension quickly increases to carry the weight of the door,thus forming an increasing counterweight substantially balancing thedoor perfectly at all points and making it extremely easy to starteither up or down, yet preventing its falling, all so that a slightpressure in either direction on handle It will eifectively swing a largemassive double or triple garage door from either position.

More carefully analyzed, a study of Figs. 2 and 3 will show that withthe door open the forward angle of arms 5 give the overhead door atendency to fall, while the very slight rearward angle of arms 6counteract this tendency so that the door is stabilized by its ownweight, and springs 23 being connected to arm 6 at a point so far oifsetrearwardly from a straight line 3|! connecting pivots 8 and II, insteadof immediately being put under increased tension as the door is swungtoward closed position simply swing upward on arcs 3| until they startdownward before they begin to retard the movement of the door,

' and this makes the door very easy to operate.

This desired eflect has not been heretofore secured with so simple anoverhead door mounting insofar as I am aware, as prior constructionsusing helical springs made it too diflicult for a person of ordinarystrength to operate the door.

Another advantage, particularly with the spring hooked to the elbow asshown in Fig. 3, is that the spring itself acts as a resilient stop forthe arm against excessive,rearward motion of the door, thus making itpossible to avoid the use of a resilient bumper strip at I I, Thisadvantage is not had with the arrangement of Fig. 4.

The arrangement of arms shown in Fig. 4 is substantially the same asthat above described for Figs. 1 to 3 but does not have the advantagescontributed by elbow 6' or definite rearward oilset 2'I. In this formthe elements already described are similarly numbered except that arm 6when in the upper dotted position with the door open is not inclinedrearwardly as much as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the spring 23 ispivotally anchored at its rear end at 33 on a lower place on the garage,and pivotally connected at its forward end to a bracket 32 clamped to anintermediate point on arm 6. The spring is under more tension than inFigs. 2 to 3to keep the door of the door above the flatfloor l is alwaysmainof the upper pair of arms at a point which is tained, whereas withsome forms of such doors the breakage of a spring drops the door to thefloor and makes it inoperative.

Having thus described my improvement in a door mounting of the kind setout, what I claim is:

1. In an overhead swinging garage door guided from vertical closedposition to substantially horizontal overhead position on two pairs ofpivoted arms, one pair pivoted on horizontal axes each at one to thelower part of the door, and at the other end to a fixed higher point onthe garage structure, and the other pair similarly pivoted at one endeach to the upper part of the door and at the opposite end to a point onthe garage about midway in the height of the doorway, a coiled tensionspring anchored at one end to a fixed point adjacent to the upper partof the garage and connected at its other end with one substantially on aline passing through said fixed point and the fixed pivot of the armwhen the door is fully open.

2. In an overhead swinging garage door guided from vertical closedposition to substantially horizontal overhead position on two pairs ofpivoted arms, one pair pivoted on horizontal axes each at one end to thelower part of the door, and at the other end to a fixed higher point onthe garage structure, and the other pair similarly pivoted at one endeach to the upper part of the door and at the. opposite end to a pointon the garage about midway in the height of the doorway, a coiledtension spring anchored at one terbalance the weight of the door inswinging from one position to the other, the arm to which through thepivotal points of both pivoted ends of the arm as viewed when the dooris overhead,

said coiled tension spring being substantially in line with the lowerportion of the bent arm when the door is overhead and in position toresiliently stop said arm against excessive rearward movement.

3. In an overhead swinging garage door adapted to swing through adoorway from closed vertical position to overhead substantiallyhorizontal open position, a rigid door, means suspending the door inclosed position comprising a pair of door suspending arms substantiallyvertically disposed respectively at opposite vertical margins at therear of the door each pivotally connected at its lower end to the dooradjacent its lower end on a horizontal axis and each pivotally connectedat its upper end on a fixed horizontal axis carried by the garagestructure about midway in the height of the door in a manner adapted tocarry the full weight of the door when closed, and a pair of guidingarms for the upper part of the door each respectively pivoted at one endto the vertical margins of the door on a horizontal axis above the-center of the door, said guiding arms extending rearwardly from theclosed door and each pivoted at its inner end to the garage on a,horizontal axis substantially midway in the height of the door, and apair of helical tension springs pivotally connected respectively at oneend each to an intermediate point on said guiding arms and pivotallyconnected at the opposite end to the garage.

4. In an overhead swinging garage door adapted to swing through adoorway from closed vertical position to overhead substantiallyhorizontal open position, a rigid door, means suspending the door inclosed position comprising a pair of door suspending arms substantiallyvertically disposed respectively at opposite vertical margins at therear of the door each pivotally connected at its lower end to the dooradjacent its lower end on a horizontal axis and each pivotally connectedat its upper end on a fixed horizontal axis carried by the garagestructure about midway in the height of the door in a manner adapted tocarry the full weight of the door when closed, and a pair of guidingarms for the upper part of the door each respectively pivoted at one endto the vertical margins of the door on a horizontal axis above thecenter of the door, said guiding arms extending rearwardly from theclosed door and each pivoted at its inner end to the garage on ahorizontal axis substantially midway in the height of the door, and apair of helical tension springs pivotally connected respectively at oneend each to an intermediate point on said guiding arms and extendingrearwardly and upwardly and pivotally connected at the opposite end tothe garage, said arms all being of identical length I and their pivotalconnections to the garage being on the same horizontal plane.

5. In an overhead swinging door mounting as set out in claim 4, a handlever secured to one of the door suspending arms and projecting upwardlyfrom its upper axis, when the door is closed.

ALEXANDER C. DALFONSO.

cxnmmcuz OF conmspmrou. v Patent Ho. '2,32l .,138. July 13, 1915.

mama c. nmmonso.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printe i specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction ae-foilowe: Page 2,secondcolumn, line 9, clhim 1, after "one" insert ---end--; and jghatthe eflid Iettere Patent should be zfead with this eorreetiontherein-that the same mu confom tethe record. of the case in the PatentOffice.

- Signed end eenled this 5th day "of October, A. n. 1945.

Henry Van Aredale, (Sell) Acting commissioner qt Patents,

